A powerful pre-winter storm slammed California with rain and snow on Monday, snarling roads, triggering two traffic fatalities, collapsing the roof of an occupational school and forcing hundreds of people to flee homes in a suburb at risk of mudslides after a devastating wildfire last month. About 20,000 utility customers lost power.

As Briana Thomas weighed whether to enroll at the Air Force Academy in 2001, she remembers thinking the war in Afghanistan would be over by the time she graduated. Now, as graduation looms, Thomas, 22, wonders how she'll respond if she's sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Many high school athletes are take nutritional supplements to enhance performance. Among th most popular are protein shakes and powders that add calories to fast-growing teenage bodies. "Everybody's tried them, pretty much," says quarterback Andrew Davis.

Ordinary citizens are being widely recruited by international crime groups to serve as unwitting collaborators referred to as mules in Internet scams to convert stolen personal and financial data into tangible goods and cash.

Ricky Williams and new Dolphins coach Nick Saban have had "some steady dialogue in the last 10 days" about the running back returning to the team, Williams agent Leigh Steinberg said Friday. Williams, the NFL's leading rusher in 2002, stunned the Dolphins by retiring shortly before training camp began last season.